LA River revitalization (Los Angeles, Long Beach, Glendale: cost, storage, dangerous)

[sean1the1]

I had no idea they were redeveloping the entire LA river. It has the potential to look like this... https://la.curbed.com/2017/10/6/1642...com-renderings the future will be very kind to LA. This will create 300 acres of parkland in the downtown area alone.

[Texamichiforniasota]

There is a desire to redevelop the river, but there are a lot of big challenges and I doubt it happens in the next 25 years:

1. Thid project is expected to cost about $2 billion today, and there no money set aside for it.

2. All of these designs envisage using Union Pacific's Piggyback Yards depot, which UP has said they need and will not sell. Ultimately the city/county could use emminant domain, but it would be a long/costly process.

3. Homeless- Any public space that is not constantly patrolled is quickly monopolized by the homeless for their private use and storage of their stollen posessions. The segment of the LA River that has been revitalized is the Glendale Narrows in Griffith Park. Griffith Park is probably the most heavily patrolled park in LA, but the River section is overrun with tents and stollen bicycles.

[NJ Brazen_3133]

Well there be an outlet to the ocean? What will be feeding this river, in other words what is the water source?

[ryanms3030]

Originally Posted by NJ Brazen_3133

Well there be an outlet to the ocean? What will be feeding this river, in other words what is the water source?

The river already exists and fed from mountains. But it's been empty concrete river bed most of the time due to droughts

[sean1the1]

Originally Posted by Texamichiforniasota

There is a desire to redevelop the river, but there are a lot of big challenges and I doubt it happens in the next 25 years:

1. Thid project is expected to cost about $2 billion today, and there no money set aside for it.

2. All of these designs envisage using Union Pacific's Piggyback Yards depot, which UP has said they need and will not sell. Ultimately the city/county could use emminant domain, but it would be a long/costly process.

3. Homeless- Any public space that is not constantly patrolled is quickly monopolized by the homeless for their private use and storage of their stollen posessions. The segment of the LA River that has been revitalized is the Glendale Narrows in Griffith Park. Griffith Park is probably the most heavily patrolled park in LA, but the River section is overrun with tents and stollen bicycles.

Even if this does happen would you rather have this or a cement River literally the original lifeblood for this city. I think it shouldn't be in those conditions there's so much potential literally a 52 Mile parkland providing an Oasis in this middle of the city. That sounds awesome to me.

[(901)]

I always chuckle when I pass the LA River. That is the most pitiful excuse for a river I've ever seen

A real shame all this rain water we've had is in the ocean now. I don't understand why this hasnt been addressed decades ago

[sean1the1]

Originally Posted by (901)

I always chuckle when I pass the LA River. That is the most pitiful excuse for a river I've ever seen

A real shame all this rain water we've had is in the ocean now. I don't understand why this hasnt been addressed decades ago

It was very dangerous before they cemented it 400 people died in just one flood. I would love to see that though.

[saybanana]

The problem with the L.A. River is that is quite short in length around 50 miles long from Canoga Park to Long Beach starting at about an elevation of 800 ft to sea level. So water flows quickly than other rivers. St Louis is 450ft elevation and Memphis is 360ft and Baton Rouge is 50ft as the Mississippi River snakes it way super slowly to the Gulf of Mexico a thousand miles away. Water will be gone after a days storm because it quickly exits to the ocean.
There is no good way to save it. You would need a reservoir so big like the size of GLendale or Santa Monica city and so deep and you would need to clean all that dirty sewage water and place it in another huge reservoir for the clean water. It really isn't practical.

During the dry spring/summer/fall months in times when it doesn't rain the little water you see on the river is primarily treated sewage water. All the stuff you flush toilets, showers, sinks is sent to several water treatment places and released by the millions of gallons down the river. A big one is Glendale.

So in the dry months, the LA river could get a small dam or weir in place that would stop adjust the flow of the river to be more full looking. Like how beavers create a dam from a small stream to make a small pond look. With a weir or dam, any excess water would just spill over. We could even have a series of mini waterfalls with lights etc with weirs.

LA could have a super long thin "Central Park" near it's city center/Downtown if it transforms some of the railyards and tracks into park space, some of the industrial areas like between LA River and the 101 freeway at Boyle Heights. Build more parks in the area beyond the Mens Central Jail/Union Station, so people can get on the metro trains to Union Station and get to the parks easily from there.

Recently a section of Lincoln Heights near Spring St and the LA river opened a new 6 acre park on top of the restoration of the 32 acre Historic "Cornfields PArk"across the river. Here is the article https://urbanize.la/post/44-million-...incoln-heights

The new 6th Street Bridge being built now to replace the cancerous one that was torn down, will add more parkland under a section with connections for the bridge to the bottom with stairs or circular paths. https://la.curbed.com/2017/8/3/16090...nderings-video

Taylor Yards which is in Cypress Park is going to turn it park I think or watershed because there is a large park near it with soccer field already.

[sean1the1]

Originally Posted by saybanana

The problem with the L.A. River is that is quite short in length around 50 miles long from Canoga Park to Long Beach starting at about an elevation of 800 ft to sea level. So water flows quickly than other rivers. St Louis is 450ft elevation and Memphis is 360ft and Baton Rouge is 50ft as the Mississippi River snakes it way super slowly to the Gulf of Mexico a thousand miles away. Water will be gone after a days storm because it quickly exits to the ocean.
There is no good way to save it. You would need a reservoir so big like the size of GLendale or Santa Monica city and so deep and you would need to clean all that dirty sewage water and place it in another huge reservoir for the clean water. It really isn't practical.

During the dry spring/summer/fall months in times when it doesn't rain the little water you see on the river is primarily treated sewage water. All the stuff you flush toilets, showers, sinks is sent to several water treatment places and released by the millions of gallons down the river. A big one is Glendale.

So in the dry months, the LA river could get a small dam or weir in place that would stop adjust the flow of the river to be more full looking. Like how beavers create a dam from a small stream to make a small pond look. With a weir or dam, any excess water would just spill over. We could even have a series of mini waterfalls with lights etc with weirs.

LA could have a super long thin "Central Park" near it's city center/Downtown if it transforms some of the railyards and tracks into park space, some of the industrial areas like between LA River and the 101 freeway at Boyle Heights. Build more parks in the area beyond the Mens Central Jail/Union Station, so people can get on the metro trains to Union Station and get to the parks easily from there.

Recently a section of Lincoln Heights near Spring St and the LA river opened a new 6 acre park on top of the restoration of the 32 acre Historic "Cornfields PArk"across the river. Here is the article https://urbanize.la/post/44-million-...incoln-heights

The new 6th Street Bridge being built now to replace the cancerous one that was torn down, will add more parkland under a section with connections for the bridge to the bottom with stairs or circular paths. https://la.curbed.com/2017/8/3/16090...nderings-video

Taylor Yards which is in Cypress Park is going to turn it park I think or watershed because there is a large park near it with soccer field already.

Wow, I never even thought about the drastic elevation changes not just for the LA river, but SoCal rivers I'm general. All of them cover huge drops in elevation in short spans. I'm hoping for a long Central Park all 51 miles if possible imagine that Greenway it'd split LA in half. There's a plan In place to mitigate the water loss in downtown atleast.

[Bunjee]

The L.A. River's dramatic surges during rainy seasons made the entire basin an alluvial flood plain. That's why it's always laughable when people say Los Angeles is a desert. It was the most productive farmland in the nation because of these geological conditions.
https://www.pbssocal.org/kcet-origin...in-the-nation/

A series of dams is a good idea to go with removing the concrete floor. I don't really like some of the early renderings of the Frank Gehry plan--the final plan is yet unrevealed and is apart from the AECOM plan--and I'm generally a fan of Gehry's. His ideas here are too brutalist, still too much concrete. But they might have evolved, at least I hope they have if his is the design we'll be following.
https://www.phaidon.com/agenda/archi...-the-la-river/